Warriors ensure it’s cold from outside

6A/5A-4 BOYS

LITTLE ROCK CHRISTIAN 61, LITTLE ROCK PARKVIEW 48

Guards Justice Hill and Will Strickland led the offense, and senior center Kalin Bennett spearheaded the defense in Little Rock Christian’s 6148 victory over Little Rock Parkview at Warrior Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

Strickland, a senior, scored 16 points and Hill, a junior, scored 13. Bennett scored just two, but he plugged the lane as Parkview’s perimeter shooters failed to convert throughout. Parkview missed all 13 threepoint attempts.

“We spread the zone out,” LR Christian Coach Clarence Finley said. “We had trouble scoring against that same zone last year, so we did some research on it. It’s kind of like Syracuse. We shade to the shooter.”

“We couldn’t throw it in the ocean,” Parkview Coach Al Flanigan said. “We didn’t come to play. We got to get better.”

Parkview led 6-0 through the game’s first four minutes. LR Christian tied the score at 9-9 on two free throws by sophomore guard Chris Hightower late in the first quarter.

A layup by Hill gave the Warriors (13-2, 3-0 6A/5A4) their first lead at 14-13 with 3:42 left in the second quarter. Parkview responded with a layup by senior forward Curtis White, but LR Christian retook the lead on its next possession and kept it for good after a four-point play by Strickland.

LR Christian led 25-19 at halftime, but the Patriots (105, 2-1) opened the second half with a 6-1 run and was within 26-25 after a layup by White with 6:15 left in the third quarter.

Finley called timeout after White’s bucket.

“They were beating us to the 50-50 balls, and when we missed a shot, we didn’t get back,” Finley said. “They were trying harder. They knew they were in a game.”

Christian scored out of the timeout with a three-pointer by junior guard Mykal Moore that started a run to a 36-27 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Two free throws by junior forward Airion Simmons put Parkview within 36-29 to start the fourth quarter, but it would get no closer, despite Ethan Henderson’s 12 points in the final six minutes.